As the leader of the Night Phantom Twelve Guards, Ye Yi would be her main point of contact going forward. She would relay any matters first to him, and he would then arrange for their execution. For now, the meeting point was set on the second floor of Yueyan Fang. Later, she planned to open a teahouse or restaurant—somewhere with plenty of foot traffic—to serve as a public front for the Night Phantom Pavilion.
She would take things step by step for now and make further plans gradually.
The fifteen guards with some martial skills she had purchased earlier from Yafang were currently staying at the East City Courtyard. She handed them over to Ye Yi as well. During periods with fewer tasks, the Night Phantom Twelve Guards could train them.
Raspberry was also at the East City Courtyard these days, working with five other skilled embroiderers to complete the design drafts she had provided.
Everything was progressing in an orderly manner.
…
After leaving the East City Courtyard, she headed to Yueyan Fang to check on the renovation progress.
Along the way, she pondered how the skincare products from the Space Supermarket had modern text on their packaging, and the materials of the bottles would also appear quite unusual if sold directly in this era.
For Yueyan Fang, she planned to offer products like lipsticks, perfumes, face masks, and skincare sets. The lipsticks and perfumes could retain their original packaging. The perfume bottles were made of glass, which could be marketed as liuli. In any case, a bottle of perfume wouldn’t come cheap.
Only the skincare products and face masks needed repackaging. But what kind of packaging should she use? She needed to think it over carefully.
She intended to focus on mid-to-high-end skincare, targeting the noblewomen of the capital. Therefore, the packaging needed to be understated yet sophisticated.
Her mind drifted to the shelves of the Space Supermarket, searching for suitable bottles or jars to hold the skincare products.
Suddenly, her eyes fell on the storage section. Retro-style glass jewelry storage boxes looked perfect! They were quite attractive, available in round or square shapes, adorned with embossed floral patterns, and came in various sizes with lids. These would work wonderfully for skincare products—and they had no text on them.
Nearby, there were also French-style retro ceramic storage boxes in vibrant colors, featuring painted patterns of flowers, plants, and birds. They looked opulent and shimmering, reminiscent of the rouge boxes used by palace consorts. These would work too!
For the face masks, she decided to use transparent glass jars, each containing five masks and a drop of Spiritual Spring Water. This would surely drive the noblewomen wild and leave them craving more!
"Shopkeeper Qi, how much longer until everything is finished?"
Yun Li inspected every corner of Yueyan Fang as workers bustled in and out of the room.
Shopkeeper Qi turned to look at Yun Li, who was dressed in men’s clothing and wearing a disguised face, momentarily taken aback. Ying Tao, standing nearby, explained:
"The young lady is asking you a question."
Shopkeeper Qi quickly replied, "Young lady, the workers have been toiling day and night these past few days. It should be finished in another two days!"
Yun Li was surprised. This Shopkeeper Qi was quite capable. She had originally given a tight deadline of one week, but he had not only met it but even finished a day earlier! It seemed Zhao Momo had found the right person.
"Well done! You’ve worked hard, Shopkeeper Qi! There will be a reward once the work is complete."
"Thank you, young lady. This is all part of my duty."
Once Shopkeeper Qi finished renovating Yueyan Fang and got it up and running, she would have him oversee the renovations for Liuli Ge and Caizhi Ge as well. Since Yueyan Fang primarily catered to women, it wouldn’t be appropriate for a man to serve as its shopkeeper. Instead, Shopkeeper Qi would be responsible for managing the supply chain for all three shops in the future!
Stock replenishment would be his responsibility to tally and then consolidate to her. She would then retrieve goods from the space and place them at designated locations, to be arranged by Shopkeeper Qi for delivery to the shops.
With just a few quick thoughts, Yun Li had decided on Shopkeeper Qi’s future role.
As for the promotional campaign two days later for the grand opening—what kind of publicity could make it an instant hit? A sudden inspiration struck her mind: she planned to visit the Spring Pavilion!
Looking at the two young maids beside her, she said, "Ying Tao, Blueberry, both of you go back and fetch Angelica and Strawberry. Put on men’s clothing and come find me at the Spring Pavilion!"
"Ah? Miss, are you going to the Spring Pavilion?"
"Yes! All of you must wear men’s clothing! And when dressed as men, address me as 'young master'!"
"Miss, going to the Spring Pavilion isn’t good… especially in broad daylight."
"Exactly! That’s why we’re going during the day. At night, the Spring Pavilion is too busy—those beauties won’t have any time…"
"But the Spring Pavilion isn’t open during the day…"
"Enough, don’t worry about it. Be good, hurry back and change, then come find Young Master Yun at the Spring Pavilion! You’ll understand once you get there."
After saying this, Yun Li headed toward the Spring Pavilion, ignoring Ying Tao’s fussing—that silly girl was too talkative.
When she arrived at the Spring Pavilion, it was indeed deserted during the day, with the main doors tightly shut. But who was she? Only someone with a poor mind would stand knocking at the Spring Pavilion’s entrance in broad daylight…
She went to a side alley and directly scaled the wall to get inside!
As soon as she jumped down, two guards rushed over.
"Who’s there? Huaxianlou isn’t open during the day! Come back in the evening! Leave now!"
"I’m here to see Madam Wu! I have business with her. Take me to her quickly!"
The two guards exchanged glances, thought for a moment, and then led her inside.
"Madam, someone is here to see you!"
"Not seeing anyone!" came Wu Liu'er’s sleepy voice from inside the room.
Wu Liu'er! True to her name, she was enchanting and alluring, full of charm. She was the madam of Huaxianlou and, it was said, had been the top courtesan many years ago. Customers all called her Madam Wu.
"Madam Wu! I’ve come to bring you silver. Don’t you want it? If not, forget it. Once the opportunity is missed, it’s gone…"
Yun Li shouted outside the door.
After a while, the door creaked open. Madam Wu, yawning, wore her clothes loosely draped over her body, revealing a generous expanse of snowy white cleavage—extremely seductive! Even Yun Li, a woman, found it irresistibly tempting, let alone men. Truly worthy of a former top courtesan!
Wu Liu'er glanced at Yun Li. "Who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you before."
Yun Li smiled and, without another word, pulled a gold ingot from her sleeve and handed it to Wu Liu'er.
The gleaming gold ingot dazzled Wu Liu'er’s eyes, instantly waking her up. She beamed with delight.
"Young master, come in and talk…"
Yun Li was pulled into the room by Wu Liu'er, who closed the door behind them.
Inside, Wu Liu'er looked at Yun Li as if seeing gold, her hand resting on Yun Li’s shoulder and slowly sliding downward.
Yun Li was stunned and hurriedly covered her chest with both hands. This was going off track, way off track…
"Ahem… Madam Wu, I’ve come to do business with you!"
"Exactly, young master, we are doing business…"
"Wait! This business is not that kind of business! Madam Wu, you’ve misunderstood. I want to borrow ten of your beauties from Huaxianlou!"
Wu Liu'er was shocked. "Young master, you want ten?"
Seeing Wu Liu'er’s expression as if she were constipated, Yun Li knew she had been misunderstood again! Her mind had gone to the wrong place… Did everyone at Huaxianlou think about nothing but this all day?
"Our proprietor has a shop opening in two days! So we’d like to borrow some of your Huaxianlou ladies for the opening promotion! The proprietor’s business is skincare products for women, so we need the ladies to demonstrate them!"
Yun Li finished in one breath, and Wu Liu'er’s expression finally returned to normal. After a moment, she asked,
"What are these skincare products you speak of, young master?"
"Here, I’ve brought some!"
Yun Li lifted the bundle she was carrying.
Back in the alley, she had removed the paper boxes from some perfumes, skincare items, and lipsticks, packing them into the bundle. With time pressing, she hadn’t had a chance to change the bottles. These were for the ladies to try out later, and she would take them back afterward, so it didn’t matter much.